


Survive

by elumish



Category: Stargate Atlantis
Genre: Episode: s02e02 The Intruder, Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-04-19
Updated: 2015-04-19
Packaged: 2018-03-24 18:56:05
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 593
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3780706
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/elumish/pseuds/elumish
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>It took him until Rodney said, “The first thing we have to do when we get back to Atlantis—” to realize what was wrong.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Survive

**Author's Note:**

> This is set before the episode The Intruder. Or, if you'd rather think about it this way, it's one of the flashbacks during the episode.

John was so busy trying to wrap his brain around the fact that a) he was on Earth and b) he was wearing non-patched socks for the first time in he didn’t know how long (he was too tired to do the 26-hour to 24-hour conversion at the moment) that it took him until Rodney said, “The first thing we have to do when we get back to Atlantis—” to realize what was wrong.

“McKay.” Who blinked at him, his mouth still open slightly like he had forgotten how to close it. “I’m not going back to Atlantis.”

Now Rodney’s mouth closed with a click that was audible from where John was sitting on the SGC infirmary bed next to his as they waited for the results of their decontamination debrief, then reopened for him to ask, “What do you mean?”

“I mean I’m not going back to Atlantis with you. I’m going to be reassigned.”

Something like hurt crossed McKay’s face. “You requested to be transferred?”

Oh, crap. “No, McKay, I’m—” John wasn’t sure how to explain this to Rodney, who had never really understood the military, despite the fact that he had been working for it in one capacity or another for at least ten years. “There’s no way they’re letting me back on Atlantis.”

“Don’t you want to go back?”

Of course he did. Being on Earth, it felt like someone had gouged out a piece of his brain, like there was an empty hole in his skull. He couldn’t remember the last time he was this far from Ancient technology; at the very least, McKay always had a life-signs detector with him. “I do. But…McKay, I had three black marks before I killed my CO.”

“So?”

God, why was Rodney being so dense about this? “So they don’t stick someone they have any use for in Antarctica. It’s not even where they stick cannon fodder—it’s where they stick people who aren’t trustworthy enough to be cannon fodder. So now that the gene therapy has taken in enough people, there’s no reason for them to send me back to Atlantis. They’ll pick a base commander who likes following orders, some high ranking officers and NCOs for backup and to lead teams, and they’ll stick me back in Antarctica to turn the lights on the chair on and off and show them pictures of the solar system.” Where at least he would be close to Ancient technology, if nothing else, so he didn’t go crazy from the missing piece in his head.

Rodney hopped off his bed, looking like he was about to go yell at someone. It was a facial expression John was absurdly familiar with. “I’m going to go talk to them. Convince them to change their mind.”

“No.”

He blinked at John like that was the last thing he had been expected, except, really, Rodney? You couldn’t see that one coming. “What do you mean, no?”

“I mean, you’re not going to go talk to them for me. At best, it’ll just piss of the people in charge enough that they’ll stick me somewhere even worse.” Somewhere away from Ancient tech. Behind a desk, where he would never fly again.

“I’ll tell them we won’t survive without you.”

“You will.” As long as they had McKay and Weir, they would survive. McKay to be their brain, Weir to be their heart. There was enough military on the base, or there would be once the Daedalus brought more troops. “You’ll survive.” He just wasn’t sure he would.


End file.
